This blog is a humble effort, in the service of the Lord, to provide glimpses into devotional, spiritual, philosophical, ethical and other literature, mostly in Sanskrit verse, right from the Vedas, Upanishads, Gita, the Epics and Puranas to works of classical poets, hymns and other writings of Acharyas like Sankara and Vedanta Desika and compositions of devotees like Jayadeva, Mooka Kavi, Bhattathiri and Lila Suka.

SRIRAMACHARITAM – 2 (SRIMADBHAGAVATAM CANTO 9, CHAPTER 11)

Sukadeva Goswami said:
Thereafter, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Ramachandra, accepted an acharya
and performed sacrifices [yajnas] with the best of paraphernalia. Thus He Himself worshiped Himself, for He is
the Supreme Lord of all demigods.

होत्रेऽददाद् दिशं प्राचीं ब्रह्मणे दक्षिणां
प्रभुः।

अध्वर्यवे प्रतीचीं च उदीचीं सामगाय सः ॥२॥

Lord Ramachndra gave the
entire East to the hota priest, the entire South to the brahma
priest, the West to the adhvaryu priest and the North to the udgata
priest, the reciter of the Sama Veda. In
this way, He donated his entire kingdom.

आचार्याय ददौ शेषां यावती भूस्तदन्तरा।

मन्यमान इदं कृत्स्नं ब्राह्मणोऽर्हति निःस्पृहः ॥३॥

Thereafter, thinking that because the brahmanas have no
material desires they should possess the entire world, Lord Ramachandra
delivered the land between the east, west, north and south to the acharaya.

इत्ययं तदलङ्कारवासोभ्यामवशेषितः।

तथा राज्ञ्यपि वैदेही सौमङ्गल्यावशेषिता ॥४॥

After thus giving
everything in charity to the brahmanas, Lord Ramachandra retained only His
personal garments and ornaments, and similarly the Queen, mother Sita, was left
with only those things which mark a sumangali (a woman with her husband
alive) like the nose ring etc, and nothing else.

ते तु ब्रह्मण्यदेवस्य वात्सल्यं वीक्ष्य संस्तुतम्।

प्रीताः क्लिन्नधियस्तस्मै प्रत्यर्प्येदं बभाषिरे ॥५॥

All the brahmanas who
were engaged in the various activities of the sacrifice were very pleased with
Lord Ramachandra, who was greatly affectionate and favourable to the
brahmanas. Thus with melted hearts they
returned all the property received from Him and spoke as follows:

अप्रत्तं नस्त्वया किं नु भगवन् भुवनेश्वर।

यन्नोऽन्तर्हृदयं विश्य तमो हंसि स्वरोचिषा ॥६॥

O Lord You are the master
of the entire universe. What have You
not give to us? You have entered the
core of our hearts and dissipated the darkness of our ignorance by Your
effulgence. This is the supreme
gift. We do not need a material
donation.

नमो ब्रह्मण्यदेवाय रामायाकुण्ठमेधसे।

उत्तमश्लोकधुर्याय न्यस्तदण्डार्पिताङ्घ्रये॥७॥

O Lord, You are the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, who have accepted the brahmanas as Your
worshipable deity. Your knowledge and
memory are never disturbed by anxiety.
You are the chief of all famous persons within this world, and Your
lotus feet are worshiped by sages who are beyond the jurisdiction of punishment.
O Lord Ramachandra, let us offer our respectful obeisances unto You

कदाचिल्लोकजिज्ञासुर्गूढो रात्र्यामलक्षितः।

चरन् वाचोऽशृणोद् रामो भार्यामुद्दिश्य कस्यचित् ॥८॥

Sukadeva Goswami
continued: Once while Lord Ramachandra was walking in the night incognito,
hiding himself by a disguise to find out the people’s opinion of Himself, He
heard a man casting aspersions on His wife, Sitadevi.

नाहं बिभर्मि त्वां दुष्टामसतीं परवेश्मगाम्।

स्त्रीलोभी बिभृयात् सीतां रामो नाहं भजे पुनः ॥९॥

[Speaking to his unchaste
wife, the man said] You go to another man’s house and stay there. You are therefore unchaste and polluted. I shall not maintain you any more. A person overly- attached to woman like Lord
Rama may accept a wife like Sita, who went and stayed in another man’s house,
but I am not like Him and therefore I
shall not accept you again.

इति लोकात् बहुमुखाद् दुराराध्यादसंविदः।

पत्या भीतेन सा त्यक्ता प्राप्ता प्राचेतसाश्रमम्॥१०॥

Sukadeva Goswami said:
Men with a poor fund of knowledge and a heinous character speak
nonsensically. Fearing such rascals,
Lord Ramachandra abandoned His wife, Sitadevi (although she was pregnant). Then
Sitadevi sought and was given shelter in the hermitage of Valmiki Muni.

अन्तर्वत्न्यागते काले यमौ सा सुषुवे सती।

कुशो लव इति ख्यातौ तयोश्चक्रे क्रिया मुनिः॥११॥

When the time came, the
pregnant mother Sitadevi gave birth to twin sons, later celebrated as Lava and
Kusa. The ritualistic ceremonies for
their birth were performed by Valmiki Muni.

अङ्गदश्चित्रकेतुश्च लक्ष्मणस्यात्मजौ स्मृतौ।

तक्षः पुष्कल इत्यास्तां भरतस्य महीपते॥१२॥

O Maharaja Parikshit,
Lord Lakshmana had two sons, named Angada and Chitraketu, and Lord Bharata had
two sons, named Taksha and Pushkala.

सुबाहुः श्रुतसेनश्च शत्रुघ्नस्य बभूवतुः।

गन्धर्वान् कोटिशो जघ्ने भरतो विजये दिशाम्॥१३॥

तदीयं धनमानीय सर्वं राज्ञे न्यवेदयत्।

शत्रुघ्नश्च मधोः पुत्रं लवणं नाम राक्षसम्।

हत्वा मधुवने चक्रे मथुरां नाम वै पुरीम् ॥१४॥

Satrughna had two sons
named Subahu and Srutasena. When Lord Bharata went to conquer all directions,
He had to kill many millions of Gandharvas, who were generally pretenders. Taking all their wealth, He offered it to Lord
Ramachadra. Satrughna also killed a Rakshasa named Lavana, who was the son of
Madhu Rakshasa. Thus he established in
the great forest known as Madhuvana the town known as Mathura.

मुनौ निक्षिप्य तनयौ सीता भर्त्रा विवासिता।

ध्यायन्ती रामचरणौ विवरं प्रविवेश ह ॥१५॥

Being forsaken by her
husband, Sitadevi entrusted her two sons to the care of Valmiki Muni. Then, meditating upon the lotus feet of Lord
Ramachandra, she entered into the earth (from where she had emerged as a
child).

तच्छ्रुत्वा भगवान् रामो रुन्धन्नपि धिया शुचः।

स्मरंस्तस्या गुणांस्तांस्तान्नाशक्नोद् रोद्धुमीश्वर॥१६॥

After hearing the news of
mother Sita’s entering the earth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead was certainly
aggrieved. Although He is the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, upon remembering the exalted qualities of mother Sita,
He could not check his grief in transcendental love.

स्त्रीपुंप्रसङ्ग एतादृक् सर्वत्र त्रासमावहः।

अपीश्वराणां किमुत ग्राम्यस्य गृहचेतसः ॥१७॥

The attraction between
man and woman, or male and female, always exists everywhere, and is the cause
of fear and grief. Such feelings are
present even among the controllers like Brahma and Lord Siva and is the cause
of fear or grief for them.

तत ऊर्ध्वं ब्रह्मचर्यं धारयन्नजुहोत् प्रभुः।

त्रयोदशाब्दसाहस्रमग्निहोत्रमखण्डितम् ॥१८॥

After mother Sita entered
the earth, Lord Ramachandra observed complete celibacy and performed an
uninterrupted Agnihotra-yajna for thirteen thousand years.

स्मरताम् हृदि विन्यस्य विद्धं दण्डककण्टकैः।

स्वपादपल्लवं राम आत्मज्योतिरगात् ततः ॥१९॥

After completing the
sacrifice, Lord Ramachandra, whose lotus feet were sometimes pierced by thorns
when He lived in Dandakaranya, placed those lotus feet in the hearts of those
who always think of Him. Then He entered
His own abode, the Vaikuntha planet beyond the Brahmajyoti

नेदं यशो रघुपतेः सुरयाच्ञयाऽऽत्त-

लीलातनोरधिकसाम्यविमुक्तधाम्नः।

रक्षोवधो जलधिबन्धनमस्त्रपूगैः

किं तस्य शत्रुहनने
कपयः सहायाः ॥२०॥

Lord Ramachandra’s
reputation for having killed Ravana with showers of arrows at the request of
the demigods and for having built a bridge over the ocean does not constitute
the factual glory of the Supreme Personality Godhead Lord Ramachandra whose
spiritual body is always engaged in various pastimes. Lord Ramachandra has no equal or superior,
and therefore He had no need to take help from the monkeys to kill his enemies.

यसामलं नृपसदस्सु यशोऽधुनापि

गायन्यघघ्नमृषयोदिगिभेन्द्रपट्टम्।

तं नाकपालवसुपालकिरीटजुष्ट-

पादाम्बुजं रघुपतिं शरणं प्रपद्ये ॥२१॥

Lord Ramachandra’s
spotless name and fame, which vanquish all sinful reactions, are celebrated in
all directions, like the ornamental cloth of the victorious elephant that
conquers all directions. Great saintly persons like Markandeya Rishi still
glorify His characteristics in the assemblies of great emperors like Maharaja
Yudhishthira. Similarly, all the saintly kings and all the demigods, including
Lord Siva and Lord Brahma, worship Him by bowing down with their helmets. Let me offer my obeisances unto His lotus feet.

स यैः स्पृष्टोऽभिदृष्टो वा संविष्टोऽनुगतोऽपि वा।

कोसलास्ते ययुः स्थानं यत्र गच्छन्ति योगिनः ॥२२॥

Lord Ramachandra returned
to His abode, to which bhakti-yogis are promoted. This is the place to which all the
inhabitants of Ayodhya went after they served the Lord in His manifest pastimes
by offering him obeisances, touching His lotus feet, fully observing Him as a fatherlike
King, sitting or lying down with him like equals, or even just accompanying
him.

पुरुषो रामचरितं श्रवणैरुपधारयन्।

आनृशंस्यपरो राजन् कर्मबन्धैर्विमुच्यते ॥२३॥

O King Parikshit, anyone
who aurally receives the narrations concerning the characteristis of Lord
Ramachandra’s pastimes will ultimately be freed from the disease of envy and
thus be liberated from the bondage of fruitive activities.